Lack of enthusiasm and suspicion over amnesty plan for thousands of reds
In an interview with The Nation yesterday, Department of Special Investigation chief Tharit Pengdit bemoaned the lacklustre public response to the idea of granting a blanket amnesty to thousands of "non-violent" red shirts at risk of being charged for violating the state of emergency.
In fact, he should be glad the clemency plan has not blown up in the government's face.
Underlying the deep distrust and political fickleness of Thais, the idea has received no "Bravo". The general response has been "So what?" from both sides of the political divide.
"I've been trying to check the rating today in newspapers and on websites," Tharit said. "There's been almost nothing to cheer about."
It was a noble idea, which should go a long way toward advancing the government's reconciliation roadmap, he said. The amnesty would benefit several hundred people already behind bars, or more, convicted for their participation in the weeks-long red-shirt protest in defiance of the emergency decree.
The plan would also cover thousands who have gone home but will remain technically state-of-emergency offenders at risk of arrest for five years.
Both groups, however, present problems for the amnesty proposal. Pardoning those already arrested or convicted will reinforce the red shirts' steadfast claims that they were nothing more than traffic violators turned by the government into political victims.
Instead of a "Thank you" from the red shirts, the likeliest reaction would be "We told you so".
The anti-red groups, which have often accused the government of being too lenient or dilly-dallying toward the red shirts with disastrous results, will see the amnesty as another example yet of such perilous indecision. These groups will say giving leniency will embolden the second category of potential benefactors - the thousands, or tens of thousands, of emergency law violators who have gone home.
The anti-red camp does not believe pardoned reds will shy away from future protests.
Instead, they fear that letting them off the hook will give them new courage and make them head to Bangkok again. The logic goes like this - if someone has a legal charge hanging over his head, he will think twice before committing another offence. But if he is absolved of the previous crime, then it will be like getting a renewed licence to act in the same way again.
For these protesters who remain at large, freeing them from future charges won't win any gratitude from the red shirts either. "The government wouldn't dare go door-to-door and round up people anyway" would be the only response the administration will get. So, The amnesty move could look like nothing more than a cheap political ploy to make the government look good.
More cynical red-shirts suspect a hidden agenda behind the amnesty initiative. Their theory is that when the DSI, National Security Council and Council of State meet today to discuss the plan, a proposal might also be on hand to "extend" the amnesty to troops, who, while protected under the state of emergency, may require further immunity amid continued political uncertainties.
The floating of an amnesty underlines how hard it is for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's reconciliation blueprint to gain broad acceptance. Every measure, already proposed or being mulled, could more or less add salt to the gaping wound and make it burn.
Despite the brewing controversy, the amnesty is in fact the first, easiest test. It will give Abhisit a telltale sign of what lies on the road ahead. If something as forgiving and compromising as a blanket pardon cannot work and instead serves to aggravate acrimony and deepen doubts, the reconciliation agenda would be as fragile as the national state that it seeks to heal.